Elastic adhesive bandage



Oct. 22, 1935. E. FETTER 2,018,517v

. ELASTIC ADHESIVE BANDAGE Filed A ril 1, 1933 Patented Oct. 22, 1935UNITED.

'' PATENT In the treatment of wounds incidentto opera.- tions andresulting from other causes, the practice of stitching to close theedges or lips-of the wound is found objectionable both on account of 6unsightly scars due to the stitches and also tothe tendency of infectionresulting from the stitches. Also, there is a tendency of the fleshtogap and pucker between stitches.

The object ofthe present invention is to provide a bandage whereby theobjectionable features incident to stitching are voided,'any out beingclosed without any scar at all and without any tendency to infection,and other wounds which are more difllcult of treatment be cause of theactual removal of skin and flesh,

are closed with less tendency to scars and infection than in accordancewith the previous prac- 'tice. The word clean as above used means thatthe edges are not very ragged audlittle or no,

0 flesh is removed. 4

In accordance with the present invention the necessity for stitching isdispensed with by the i use of a stretchable elastic bandage havingallhesive properties which enable it to stick closely; to the skin.Ordinary raw rubber does-not ad.

here to the skin. In the practice of the invention, a material in thenature of a rubber compound. having strong adhesive properties inconnection with the skin is provided'in any suitable mannei' as bymixing'raw rubber with a resinous substance of which Canada I j balsamis an example. A material having antiseptic properties, preferably inthe form of a concen-r trate may also be added. The --and the resinoussubstance with or without the antiseptic are mixed in any suitablemanner asin a-mill..

Any suitable material to give the compound anti pose. A concentrateis-most easilyiutilized, the

rubber serving as a base or diluent therefor,;.the i use of the rubberin this way being parallel i the use of water o'r'other liquidin-forming antiseptic solution. It is found that when oxyquinoline ismixed with the raw rubber in the manner described herein, the rubberthus mixed. being placed on the surface. of the'skin, theory quinolineis exuded from the body of the rubber and gradually deposited on theskin furnishing a continuous supply .of antiseptic. tothe sidnbeneaththe bandage. I i

This adhesive rubber compound preferablycontaining antiseptic in anavailableform therein, it

being understood-that this material is not vul-'- f is then applied a aman; to heets at :raw rubber, it being understood iii this connectionthat raw rubber in sheets asthey occur in commercial" form ismoldableand self adhesive and has a considerable degree of elasticity so thatwhen stretched to a certain extent they 5 tend to recover their originaldimensions, but this raw rubber does not adhere to the skin. Treatedwith adhesive as described, it adheres strongly to the skin and maybe'used as hereinafter described to close wounds instead of stitch- 10In accordance with another form of the invention, the adhesive coatingdescribed may be applied to vulcanized rubber sheets instead of to'unvulcanized rubber, the vulcanized rubber sheets w 1' having a highdegree of elasticity,

In the treatment of a wound one end of the bandage is caused to adhereto the flesh at one side 'of the wound, the lips of the wound are closedand the'bandage is stretched and the other go end iscaused to adhere tothe flesh on the other "side of the wound. To prevent sticking and to.

give the wound suitable ventilation, also topro- 'vide for the use ofhealing and antiseptic com-. pounds a piece of absorbent fabric may beused as to cover the wound between the ends of the elastic bandage.'I'his'underlies the center of the 1 tendency theoutside or top surfacesof the bandage at each end may be covered with fabric which is caused toadhere to' the rubber in any suitable w v or I well known manner. septicproperties may be used, oxyquinoline being an example of an availablematerial for thisfpur v In the accomp nyin drawing 1 have musma abandageembodying the features of my in.- .vention in the preferred form.

*I 'igurelis a top plan view of the bandage .showingthefabric.

2 1a an elevationof the same showing the edgev of thebandaqe.

Figure 3 Ian. (111181 in: the edges of a wound closed by means of thebandage in accordance with the preferred practice.

Referring to the drawin by numerals, the

bandage vl consists of a' strip or sheet of raw, or, 1

if desired, of vulcanized rubber 2. This may be the tension'applied tothebandage; A coating f.

ticsectional view showu s stretched across the wound and the other endat 8 is then caused to adhere to the flesh. If the wound is ofconsiderable extent, several strips of the bandage material are appliedtransversely,

but the effect of a complete seal of such a wound is best avoided.Slighte'r wounds as on the hands or other exposed parts can be sealedand protected in this way.

I have thus described specifically and in detail a bandage embodying thefeatures of my invention in the preferred form in order that the mannerof constructing, applying, operating and using the invention may befully understood, however, the specific terms herein are useddescriptively rather .mMM Milne; inaisnimnlin L than in a limitingsense, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent is:

1. An elastic bandage as a substitute for stitch- 5 ing for use inclosing a wound, the same consisting of a sheet of stretchable elasticcompound having an adhesive adapted to adhere to the human skin on oneside, the ends being reinforced on the opposite side from-the coatingwith sheet 10 material adapted to prevent transverse contraction duringstretching, the bandage being adapted to be amxed to the skin onbothsides of the wound in stretched condition to close the wound

